(A/N) Here's the next chapter! Sorry for the extra day of wait haha. HERE WE GO!
Chapter 10: Red and Green Mix
Hermione was sleeping comfortably in her bed with a smile on her face. Suddenly, she felt a slight tickling sensation on her right ear lobe. Her eyes fluttered open and she was greeted by the dull light of the sun shining through the window. Looking over her shoulder, Hermione saw a very happy Draco with a big smile plastered over his face. He had just been nibbling on her ear lobe and dived in for her neck. He placed feather light kisses on her, making her giggle.
"Well, well, good morning Dra-" she started, but was interrupted when Draco kissed her right in the middle of her sentence. It was a sweet and soft kiss. Hermione could feel him grinning against her lips and she grinned back.
"Good morning, love" Draco said as he wrapped his arm around Hermione pulling her closer.
She snuggled up against his chest and played with a loose string on his buttoned up shirt. "Good morning, Draco" she said with a smile he could not see. Then, realization dawned on her. If Draco was still wearing his nice white buttoned up shirt, then that would mean…She looked down at what she was wearing and sure enough, she was still in her originally designed (and quite expensive) dress. She shot up from the bed causing a startling reaction from Draco.
"Hey! What's wrong?" he said. Hermione looked at him and saw how soft his features were. His eyes were not cold and hard, but warm and caring. He also wore a small frown. Hermione's heart automatically melted.
"I'm so sorry love, nothing's wrong" she said as she gave him a gentle kiss on the lips, making him smile once more. "I just realized I didn't change and I'm still in my dress. I'm going to take a bath alright?"
Draco nodded. "Alright, me too" he said.
Hermione turned around and looked at him questionably. Realizing what he had just said, Draco's eyes widened. "Oh no, no, no! That's not what I meant Hermione, I meant I was going to take a shower while you were taking a bath"
Hermione still continued to look at him with a raised eye brow and was fighting the urge to laugh at his expression. Draco realized that what he said still sounded as if suggesting the wrong idea. "WHAT I MEAN IS…I'll put a temporary wall in the bathroom so we could both have our privacy…" Draco took his eyes off Hermione's and rested his chin on his hand to think. "Yup, that's what I meant" he said smiling and looking back at her.
Hermione let out a high pitched laugh. "I knew what you meant the whole time Draco, I was just playing with you like what I did that one time you made us breakfast"
Draco let out a growl from deep inside his throat. "I'm gonna get you…Granger"
"Just try it…Malfoy" she said smiling.
Draco then shot up from the bed and started to chase after her. Hermione was taken by surprise and it was too late to run. Draco had grabbed onto her and pulled her down onto the carpeted floor and started to tickle her senseless. Hermione was laughing so hard that she was on the verge of tears. Finally, Draco got off and helped her up. As she as she was standing, she firmly hit Draco's chest.
"HMPH!" she said.
"Ow! What was that for?" Draco asked as he rubbed his hard chest.
"For being just like Harry and Ron" Hermione said with her nose up in the air.
"Ouch, now THAT was the ultimate insult Hermione" Draco said as he put his hands over his heart showing a hurt expression. Hermione just laughed and made her way to her bedroom.
"I'm going to get my things for my bath" she said over her back.
"Alright" he said. He looked for his clothes and made his way to the bathroom. When he got there, he made his way over to the bath tub and turned on the water. He added the bubbles and turned off the water when the tub was completely filled. The, he conjured a divider between the bathtub and the shower. He wasted no more time. He stripped himself of his clothes and entered the shower, turning on the hot water.
Hermione entered the bathroom right as Draco turned on the water. She could see the steam floating from the top of the divider and into her side of the bathroom. She smiled and got into the already filled bathtub. He's so sweet Hermione thought as the warm water made contact with her body. Hermione took her lufa and started to wash her body. While getting cleaned up, she got caught up in her thoughts.
This seems a little…fast. I have no idea what came over me last night…I know that I have feelings for Draco and I'm pretty sure that it is love, but…how is everyone going to react? Are we going to keep it a secret? Why did Draco agree to respond so quickly when I first kissed him? I wonder if he had feelings for me before all this drama happened…But if he did, why was he acting the way he was before the Ball? He was always ignoring me…Maybe I'll just ask him everything. What harm could it do? she sighed. Who would have thought that Hermione Granger, Gryffindor Princess of all bookworms would fall for the Slytherin Prince himself, Draco Malfoy?
Hermione smiled at the thought and laid her head back, taking advantage of her time of piece. And I hope Skyler burns in hell. This thought made Hermione's smile widen.
For what seemed like a couple of minutes was actually twenty. Draco had already gotten out of his shower and gotten dressed for the day. Luckily there were no classes. He was now knocking on the bathroom door waiting for Hermione to speak. Her head shot up at the realization that she had dozed off and spoke.
"Oh bugger! Um, I'll be right out Draco!"
"It's ok, take your time. I'll be downstairs in the common room alright?"
"Ok"
Hermione got out of the tub and grabbed her towel. She saw that there was no longer the barrier separating the tub and the shower. Going to her room, she got dressed and did a few quick spells to dry her hair and let them fall in soft ringlets. She smiled at herself in the mirror and went downstairs. When she arrived, she was greeted by a very confused Draco looking something.
"Um…Draco are you ok? What are you looking at?" she asked as she walked next to him and tried to follow his gaze. She immediately saw and then too started to stare, but was fully aware of what was happening and began to laugh lightly. Draco looked at her and raised an eyebrow, still confused.
"What's so funny? I know they look rather…cute…I guess, but I really don't get it" Draco said.
Hermione looked at the scene once again. Her lion and Draco's serpent were playing with each other. One could clearly see the happy expressions on the animals' faces as they both jumped up and down and were playing with a long piece of string on the floor.
"Well, a couple of months ago before you started to avoid me for no reason, Dumbledore told me that these two animals are kind of like a representation of our feelings. Before, the animals wouldn't even look at each other; and when they did, they looked ready to kill. But now that you and I…changed our feelings, so did they. It's quite brilliant actually." Hermione explained.
Draco thought back to the time Hermione's lion was willingly allowing Draco to enter her room that one day after he got out of the shower. "So that's why…" he said.
The two stood a little while longer admiring the two happily playing animals. "Anyway," started Draco, "I made us coffee, here" and he handed the cup of coffee to Hermione.
"Thanks" she said, taking the cup. "Draco, can we talk about something?"
Draco looked to the ground. His expression suggested that he knew this was going to happen. He ran his hands through his hair, exhaling. "Sure, let's sit on the sofa" he said, taking her hand and leading her to the couch. Draco sat down and Hermione sat down to his right. He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer as Hermione cuddled next to him, both still drinking their coffee. "What did you want to talk about love?"
"Well, I was just wondering…about last night. Even though you might not want to talk about it, would you mind explaining everything to me from your perspective? I know it sounds like something stupid to ask but there's other things I want to ask you and I can't unless I know this first" Hermione said, thankful that Draco wasn't able to see her face at the moment fore she was blushing a deep red.
"It's not problem Hermione, you can ask me anything" he said as he played with her soft hair. "I guess I should start with the first day of class. Do you remember that potion Snape had us brew that allowed us to hear another person's thoughts?"
Hermione looked up at him and giggled. "Yes, how could I forget? I ended up listening to five minutes of Pansy going on and on about how she was in love with you and how she was jealous I was Head Girl"
This came to a surprise to Draco. "Oh really now? I truly feel sorry for you for having to listen to that. Anyway, I ended up with that crazy lunatic, Skyler. I didn't know it was him at first, but those five minutes I had to listen to are definitely going to be one of the worst five minutes of my life. He kept going on about gaining the trust of his so-called girlfriend so that he could get her into his bed and rape her. He said that he would go to abuse if he had to. By the end of it, I was so angered and fired up, I wanted to find out who the bastard was. Like I told you before, we, as in most Slytherins, had to watch our mothers get tortured or killed, so you could imagine how we feel about women getting hurt"
"Yes I got a first hand view last night" said Hermione slightly sad and ashamed for making fun of Slytherins for so long.
"Yeah you did, and Skyler got what he had coming to him" Draco said with a smirk.
"How did you know it was him though?" asked Hermione curiously.
"When we were playing Ravenclaw in the last Quidditch match," here Hermione rolled her eyes because everything seemed to lead to Quidditch when boys were concerned, "we were racing neck and neck for the snitch. I've never heard the fool talk before until that moment. He said something to me and I couldn't recognize the voice at first, but after I caught the snitch and heard him talk more, then it hit me. I was going to punch him out right there but Blaise stopped me. We eventually decided not to do anything yet because you and I were still on bad terms and you probably wouldn't have believed me if I told you anyway because I was 'a slimy, sneaky, not good Slytherin' am I right?" He looked down at her.
Hermione felt a little embarrassed because he was in fact right. If he had told her she probably wouldn't have believed him. "Right…" she said looking down.
"It's ok love, I forgive you. The main point is: Blaise and I saw him take you out of the Great Hall, we followed, saw him hit you, and I broke the bloke's nose" Draco finished laughing.
"I know! I couldn't believe all that happened in the hall. I wonder why none of the Professors showed up" pondered Hermione.
"I don't know but I'm glad. What happened after I left?"
"Well, I went to follow you but that jerk tried to stop me, and then that Marissa Steel punched him good in the nose again. Let me tell you, that is one girl I would NOT want to mess with" Hermione said with a smile.
"I hope he gets that nose healed well enough for me to break it again" Draco said under his breath. Unfortunately, Hermione heard.
"Draco, don't start. I've been worried about what might happen to you. You seriously injured a student and that's…Draco stop laughing!"
"Oh sorry…" Draco said as he stopped himself from laughing, thinking about how good if felt to punch Skyler.
"As I was saying," Hermione began, smiling at Draco, "what if they expel or suspend you for it? It wasn't just any fight, it was…gruesome."
"I don't care what they do to me, Skyler got what he deserved" said Draco as he put his coffee cup down next to Hermione's.
"But I don't want anything bad to happen to you…" Hermione said. She looked into Draco's steel eyes and gave him the best puppy dog face she could muster.
Draco looked at her trying desperately not to lose control and snog her senseless. "Ohhh Come here…" he said finally scooping her up in his arms and holding her closely. If he could, he would have held her there forever and cursed anyone who tried to get near her. "What else did you want to ask me 'Mione?"
Hermione pulled out of his embrace causing him to frown slightly. She saw this and put a small peck on his nose making him grin. "Do you love me?"
Draco's eyes widened and looked truly hurt. "Of course I do woman! Why would you ask me such a question?"
"Because…for the longest time I thought you hated me, even this year I thought you still did, and then all of a sudden after one night everything changed?"
"No, it wasn't after one night. After you kissed me, I felt this feeling inside me that I've been feeling ever since the beginning of the year whenever I thought about you…at first I didn't know what it was, but after last night I knew. I don't want you to ever doubt my love for you. If you want me to prove it, let me go and find Skyler one more time and I'll-"
"Ok, ok I believe you! Let's not have a repeat of last night" she said giggling. Then, once again she got serious. "Draco, what do we do about us?"
"What do you mean?" he asked
"I mean, what are we going to do? Are we going to show everyone that we're together or are we going to keep it a secret?"
Draco looked at her carefully. "Do you want it to be a secret?"
Hermione looked down at the floor. "I don't know what I want. I want to be with you and I really don't care who knows, my only concern is what people would think and how they would act around us. I don't want anyone to treat me differently or not be my friend just because of who I'm with. You know what I mean?"
"Yes I understand…" Draco paused to think. "Here's what we'll do, today, you tell Pothead and Weasel what-"
"Draco…" Hermione said sternly.
Draco sighed. "Fine, you tell Potter and Weasley what's happened between us and see how they react. I'll tell Blaise too but to be honest, with Blaise I don't think there'll be a problem. If all goes well, we'll make our relationship public. If not…we'll keep things secretive for a while."
"Sounds good to me. I just hope Harry and Ron don't get into trouble…"
"In trouble for what?" asked Draco
"For possibly beating you to a pulp when they find out" Hermione said casually.
Draco jumped up and looked at her with outrage and Hermione laughed.
"I was just kidding!...partially"
Draco was about to retort but was stopped by Hermione's lips.
"'MIONE!" Harry and Ron yelled when they saw her in the hall. They both gave her a big hug, refusing to let her go anytime soon.
"We're so glad you're alright!" said Harry.
"And we're sorry for not doing anything when that arse hit you. We were too shocked to move! Please forgive us?" Ron asked questionably.
"It's alright you guys, I was never mad at you. Besides, Draco was there to put him in place was he not? By the way, what happened to Skyler anyway?" Hermione said.
Harry and Ron had smug looks on their face. "Well," started Ron, "right after you left, the professors finally showed up and saw the prick all bloodied up. When they asked what happened, everyone told them, and we mean EVERYONE. People suddenly found their voices after being so quiet from shock"
"Yeah, McGonagall had to tell them all to shut up and Dumbledore asked Blaise Zabini what happened since him and the rest of the Slytherins were pretty much quite after the fact that they were the only ones yelling during the 'incident.' After Zabini told the story, he asked me and Ron to confirm and we did" said Harry.
"And as a result of that, Skyler is now expelled from Hogwarts. Also, fifty house points were given to the Slytherin House for doing a 'really good deed.' But you know what, that's ok. They deserved it, especially Malfoy." Ron said
"Mhmm! And Marissa Steel! That is one girl I would NOT mess with" added Harry smiling.
"That's exactly what I said to Draco!" Hermione said laughing as well.
"It's true! That girl packs a mean right hook…Hey, when did you start calling Malfoy by his first name?" Ron asked.
Hermione blushed and looked around the halls to make sure no one was looking. She took the two boys by the hand and pulled them into an empty classroom. "Alright, I'm about to tell you two something but you have to promise to have an open mind and to not get mad. Ok?"
Harry and Ron looked at each other and made a silent agreement. They nodded at her to continue.
"Ok, well as you know, last night Draco stood up for me along with the rest of the Slytherins, and when we met back at the Head's Tower, we saw each other and he told me he cared for me and…to make it short, we're kind of…together now…" Hermione finished and closed her eyes quickly, waiting for the two of them to start yelling at her. To her surprise, there was no yelling, just complete silence. She opened one eye at a time to look at them. The two were looking at her with emotionless expressions. "Aren't you guys going to say something?"
"That's nice 'Mione" said Harry.
"Yeah, good for you" said Ron.
Hermione looked at them as if they'd gone mad. "That's really all you have to say? You're not going to yell or tell me that I'm associating with the enemy?"
"'Mione, as much as we hate, or hated, Malfoy, he saved you from that git Skyler when Ron and I couldn't. If Malfoy of all people can suck up his pureblood pride and help a muggle born, then I have no problem with him" explained Harry.
"And if you two are really a couple, Harry and I have no problem of trusting Malfoy to take care of you when we aren't around. But, as same with all the other guys, if he does in fact hurt you in any way, we'll break him" Ron stated.
Hermione looked at them, and for the first time in a long time, she had tears in her eyes. She knew her two best friends were great people, but this proved just how great they were. They were willing to be friends with their enemy for her. "Oh guys I love you!" she practically shouted as she threw her arms around the two. They hugged her back and they squeezed each other tight. Ron kissed her on the cheek and Harry rubbed the back of her head. This was truly what best friends looked like.
The Golden Trio walked out of the empty classroom. Harry had his arm around Hermione's shoulder and Ron had his arm around her waist. They walked down the hall in silence fore their hearts were stuck in their throats, and neither could do anything but smile.
The Gryffindors turned the corner and Draco saw them from the hall he was exiting in the opposite direction. Blaise was next to him telling him of what happened to Skyler. However, Blaise stopped talking when he saw who Draco was looking at.
"Hey mate, I have something to tell you" said Draco
"After you went to your tower, Hermione walked in the door and you lost your temper because she didn't listen to you. Then, after you apologized to each other you went up to your room, but then somehow found yourself kissing her and now you two are together but are afraid of letting the public know in fear of how they will react." Blaise said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Draco widened in eyes. "How in the bloody hell did you know that?"
"I'm just that good mate. I've known you forever like the back of my hand" replied Blaise.
"So I take it you're alright with me seeing Hermione?" asked Draco.
"Oh so it's 'Hermione' now is it?" Blaise laughed. "Yeah mate of course I'm ok with it. I don't care about all that pureblood rubbish. The rest of the Slytherins however, don't know how they'll take it. But, if they start acting like a bunch of bitches I'll slap them back in line for you."
Draco slapped Blaise on the back. "Oh what would I do if I didn't have a Zabini?" he asked rhetorically.
Hermione was sitting at her secret spot near the lake. She always went there when she wanted to be alone and think. Not necessarily about anything bad. Hermione took a deep breath to smell the air. Even though it was in the middle of December, she didn't feel as cold as she thought she would. She held her cloak closer to her and smiled. Suddenly, she felt a big thud on her shoulders. She looked up to see Draco who had just dropped his coat over her shoulders to keep her warmer. She smiled at his angelic face. Hermione wanted nothing more than to be close to him. As if reading her mind, Draco sat down behind her so she was in between his legs. H wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her.
"Hermione?"
"Yes Draco?"
"I…I love you"
Hermione's heart inflated. Hearing the words come from his mouth was enough to make her smile. "I love you so much you don't even know"
Draco thought his heart was about to explode. He's never loved someone before and he's never known what it was like to be loved. He squeezed her again. He wondered if it was normal to want to be with someone so bad. It was so serious that he thought Hermione might get sick of him being too attached to her. He rubbed his cheek next to hers and held her like a teddy bear, rocking her from side to side.
"How did Blaise take the news love?" she asked.
"He was perfectly fine with it. Hell, he predicted it. What about Potter and Weasley?" he asked
"They were surprisingly supportive. They even complimented you a time or two. I'm really proud of them."
"Does that mean we'll make ourselves public tomorrow?" Draco asked hopefully.
"I'm ready if you are" Hermione said as she exhaled.
"Then it's settled, tomorrow we'll show everyone."
"I'm sure they won't make too much of a big deal out of it right?" Hermione asked.
"Well, Blaise was telling me that the Slytherins might not take it too well. We'll just have to see." Draco confirmed.
"I'm glad I have you by my side, and that Skyler is out of my life."
"Yeah, I heard what happened to him. The stupid git" Draco got up and held out a hand to Hermione. She took it and stood up in front of Draco. He placed a hand under her chin and lifter it up to look into her yes. "He didn't deserve you 'Mione…" he leaned in and kissed her sweetly and softly. "You are so beautiful."
Hermione looked at him and smiled. She went on her tip toes and kissed his nose again. He grinned largely. Hermione had come to notice that Draco really liked it when she did that. "You're like a bunny!"
Draco pouted and lifted his hands to his ears. "Are you saying I have big ears Granger?"
Hermione laughed. "No silly, I'm saying you have a cute nose" she said as she tapped his nose lightly with her index finger.
"Oh…in that case…" he bent down and nibbled on her long and slender neck, satisfied with the giggle he got out of Hermione. "Come on, let's go back to the common room."
"Draco wait! We can't go back together until tomorrow remember?" Hermione said.
"Oh yeah… ok. You go ahead and I'll meet you there." Draco said
Hermione started to take off the coat when Draco stopped her and told her to keep it on. She smiled and gave him one last kiss before leaving. When she left, Draco looked out into the lake.
If only Lucius could see me now. He'd be on his knees for the first time in his life begging the Dementors to let him out to kill me…So be it. I don't need him, and I would gladly kill him if he got anywhere near Hermione…Damn I love her so much. Why the hell does Blaise have to be right all the time?
Draco looked down at the ground at a small rock. He smiled and started to kick the rock back to the castle while whistling to himself. He tuned out everyone around him and walked through four people, not looking at who they were.
Harry, Ron, and Blaise looked at him with smirks on their faces and crossed their arms. Harry and Ron looked at Blaise and Blaise looked back. They were still for a while but then Harry held his hand out to Blaise. Blaise looked at it for a moment and looked back at Harry. He smiled and shook his hand followed by Ron. The three boys walked back to the castle and whistled as well.
The last person looked at all four of the boys: Draco, Harry, Ron, and Blaise with a confused expression on her face. Slowly Pansy turned and went back into the castle as well.
(A/N) What a fluffy chapter! Hehe
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